‘They’re not dumb’: Curley says California billionaire tax will drive the wealthy out

KIRO host John Curley is warning that a proposed one-time tax on California billionaires could drive the wealthiest residents out of the state and leave California with less money, not more.

On “The John Curley Show” on KIRO Newsradio, Curley criticized Proposition 40, which would impose a one-time 5% tax on the net worth of California billionaires. He also took aim at one of its most prominent supporters, U.S. Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif.

“They’re leaving, just like they’re leaving in Washington. They’re not dumb,” Curley said. “If you’re worth a billion, you probably have a couple of brain cells, and you realize I’m going to leave.”

Curley cites study predicting revenue loss

Curley pointed to research by two Stanford economists who ran 100,000 simulations of the tax’s effects. According to Curley, the researchers found about an 85% chance that California would ultimately lose revenue as billionaires move away.

He also objected to taxing wealth that hasn’t been cashed in.

“The money is sitting in a stock, and it’s valued at X,” Curley said. “I haven’t realized it. I haven’t turned it into a capital gain. I haven’t cashed it in yet. But they’re going to say your total net worth, we’re going to whack 5% of it.”

Curley noted that Peter Thiel has already left California, and he cited a Wall Street Journal report that Mark Zuckerberg plans to leave as well.

Khanna makes the case for the tax

Curley played a clip of Khanna arguing that the tax would protect health care for millions of Californians.

“It is the first time in the history of the nation or the history of the world that we would be able to tax billionaires,” Khanna said. “You would be able to make sure the 3.5 million Californians didn’t lose their health care and poor kids didn’t go without health care.”

Khanna also accused California Gov. Gavin Newsom of opposing the measure because of his donors.

“We can either be a Democratic Party that stands for the working class in the tradition of the New Deal, or we can continue to cater to the donor class,” Khanna said.

Curley questioned why billionaires’ wealth has grown in the first place.

“Do you think it went up because they’re actually providing some sort of product or service that people wanted to give them money for?” he asked.

Curley questions Khanna’s own wealth

Curley argued that Khanna’s personal finances undercut his message about the working class. He described Khanna as a congressman who once carried about $50,000 in student debt, then became wealthy through his marriage to a woman whose father made his fortune selling auto parts. Curley put Khanna’s net worth at about $78 million and his father-in-law’s at about half a billion dollars.

“This guy is a fraud and a sham,” Curley said.

Curley added that he has no problem with Khanna’s wealth itself, only with what he sees as a double standard, since the tax applies only to billionaires.

“Just make sure that everybody knows that you have no problem taking money from billionaires, but just don’t take it from somebody who’s only worth half a billion, because that would make a very uncomfortable Thanksgiving, because that’s your father-in-law,” he said.

Curley warns nonprofits could feel the impact

Curley drew a comparison to Washington, pointing to Jeff Bezos’ move out of the state. He argued that when wealthy residents leave, charities lose some of their biggest donors.

“When the golden goose flies away, you don’t realize how many people are affected by that,” Curley said. “In the end, the nonprofits get the cash from individuals that earned it by working hard, and you’re going to see them start to hurt in the state of Washington and in California as well.”

According to Curley, polling on the California measure is evenly split.

Watch the full discussion in the video above.

Listen to “The John Curley Show” weekdays from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. on KIRO Newsradio 97.3 FM.

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